Campaign 2010

Adams County cities start weighing recreational pot shops

By Joey Kirchmer YourHub

Posted:
02/04/2013 12:01:00 AM MST

Updated:
02/04/2013 06:43:55 AM MST

Shay Legg, the office manager at Physician Preferred Products in Northglenn, helps Jesse Cassero decide on a strain of medical marijuana. Northglenn is the only city in Adams County where medical-marijuana stores can be found. The city has three medical-marijuana shops. (Lindsay Pierce, YourHub)

There will be no retail pot shops or cultivation facilities in Thornton, and other Adams County communities may soon follow the city's lead.

Thornton Councilman Randy Drennen said the unanimous vote by council simply reinforces the city's existing ban on medical-marijuana facilities.

Drennen said he expects the council to take up the issue again after the details of Amendment 64 — which legalized the possession of up to 1 ounce of marijuana by people age 21 or older — are settled this year at the state level.

"There's a lot of loose ends that weren't answered with the ballot question, and all of that will have to be addressed by the legislature," he said. "Given that climate and all that uncertainty, all we did was reinforce our existing position."

Thornton is the first Adams County city to prohibit marijuana retail stores and cultivation facilities.

Only two cities in the county — Northglenn and Commerce City — allow medical-marijuana operations within city limits. Commerce City, which has strict zoning regulations for the facilities, has not approved a license for a medical-marijuana operation since they became legal, said Michelle Halstead, spokeswoman for Commerce City.

The city has received two applications, but one was denied because of its proximity to a trailhead, she said. The other is under review.

Commerce City will take up the issue of whether to allow retail pot shops at a Feb. 11 study session, she said.

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Brighton's City Council is also expected to address retail marijuana in coming weeks, city spokeswoman Kristen Chernosky said. Brighton has had a ban on medical-marijuana facilities since March 2011, she said.

Northglenn, which has allowed medical-marijuana facilities for the past three years, is the only city in Adams County where medical-marijuana stores can be found. There are three stores. The first permit was issued in January 2010, city spokesman Jason Rogers said.

Medical-marijuana operations have contributed approximately $372,000 in sales-tax revenues to Northglenn over the course of three years, Rogers said.